Fantômas is the first famous film criminal mastermind. He uses disguises, gentleman's charm, and vicious ruthlessness to terrorize Paris. This episode is adapted from the first Fantômas novel - a translated edition is here.
In this first episode he robs a princess, and then is suspected of involvement in the disappearance of a Lord Beltham.
The Fantômas films are often thought of as a serial, but they are really long installments in a series, somewhat like our Bond and Bourne franchises. A “feature” film at the period might run fifty to seventy-five minutes. As with our franchises, there are recurring characters. The films pit police inspector Juve and the journalist Fandor against Fantômas and his accomplices, notably the treacherous but passionate Lady Beltham.
This video is from Wikimedia, and is missing opening and closing credits. The English subtitles are derived from SUBDL subtitles .To view subtitles, start video, click "CC", then select "english" (The subtitles for the original WEBM video appear out of sync with the derived video, but are retained for downloaders in the "4webm" file).
Credits
Louis Feuillade (director/writer)
Georges Guérin (cinematographer)
Marcel Allain (author)
Pierre Souvestre (author)
René Navarre (lead)
Edmund Breon (lead)
Renée Carl (lead)
Jane Faber (lead)
Georges Melchior (lead)
Naudier (lead)
André Volbert (lead)
Gaumont (production)
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